I have decided to move my blogging, which I still intend to do, back to sibleyweb.wordpress.com. This will simplify things. Thanks for reading. I’ve updated the blog categories on Sibleyweb to reflect what I have been wanting to blog about here. Cheers!
I like taking photos. I’m no good at it. But sometimes a photo that you planned ends up being a brilliant moment because somebody does the opposite of what you want them to do. “Isaiah, hold still for this picture and act like you’re licking the mixer-thingy.” He does this patiently for no more than three seconds. I didn’t get the photo I wanted, but just as he was done being patient and I was done snapping the photo, his devilish (and quite unplanned) look was captured in a photograph that I would consider art.
I think it’s hilarious how the guy in this video from CNET feels compelled to encourage people to not pin all their hopes and dreams on the iPhone. It reflects a sad reality. We love technology too much!
The iPhone is a great tool and it sparked a revolution in the smartphone industry. However, now that I have the opportunity to join the cool-kids, I will not be purchasing the iPhone 4. Here’s why:
- I never purchase anything when it first comes out. Who has that luxury?!
- You can get a 48 gig android phone for Verizon that has more features than the iPhone 4. I won’t be doing this btw. But I could.
- I am a Mac user. I love OS X! Love, love it. But, I think iOS looks like a bad copy of one of my 4 year old’s computer games. The UI is just UGLY. Was it created for children? The icons remind me of website navigation from the late ’90s. The iOS UI must change! It’s the most important design feature, and it’s in desperate need of a face-lift.
- I will admit that the iPhone external form factor is far superior to anything I’ve seen in the Android market. Plus, the Verizon model has a re-designed (presumably fixed) antenna. However, by the time I’m ready to upgrade (far, far away from) my Blackberry, there will be an Android phone that matches the sex-appeal of the iPhone. HTC is getting close.
- Google owns the cloud. It just makes sense to go with a company that understands how I work and will synchronize perfectly with gMail and gCal. Google Maps navigation on the Android is very nice.
- The only thing that will change my mind (read: life) is an iPhone 5 that changes everything yet again.
Today was day two of “just try some of the vegan recipes.” I finished my pasta at lunch, barely. Then I had stomach pains because of the beans. The beans led to other problems that I won’t mention. Ahem.
For dinner, I decided to try something simple. So, I poured Silk (soy milk) over my Cheerios and it wasn’t too bad. Until I finished. I began to feel that tell-tale tickle in the back of my throat. Allergies! I went to read the carton’s ingredients: “May contain almond.” Um. It does contain almond. ACK! I dropped two Benadryl and waited. Thankfully, I didn’t have to resort to the Epi-pen. I have to say Laurie was a little too eager to get to stab me in the hind quarters.
So. I’m thinking I may have to backpedal on this McDougall diet a little. No matter what I do, I seem to always hit brick walls.
So, I’ve begun to think that I may be able to solve some of my arthritis problems if I change my diet. The internet tells me that I need to give up everything good in order to accomplish this. I am willing to try anything at this point.
We found a diet designed by a doctor in California. He claims that eliminating all animal-based foods will begin to heal my arthritis.
Painful joints can be divided into “degenerative” and “inflammatory” forms of arthritis. Osteoarthritis is the name often given to the degenerative form and this kind is helped with weight loss, a change in diet, glucosamine, and acupuncture. Inflammatory forms of arthritis, like rheumatoid, Lupus, psoriatic, and ankylosing spondylitis are very responsive to the McDougall Program. To be more specific, about 70% of people with the most common form of inflammatory arthritis, rheumatoid arthritis, can expect dramatic benefits, and often a cure, in less than 4 weeks of diet change. The diet must be followed strictly – medications are reduced and stopped as improvements occur.
Dr. McDougall recommends going for 12 days on the diet as strictly as possible to kick-start the program. He offers a free meal planner online as well.
I will begin this new diet next Thursday. Over the next week, we’ll be gathering more information and attempting a few of the recipes. We actually had our first McDougall meal for dinner tonight:
Chip and Salsa Soup
Servings: 4Preparation Time: 10 minutes
Cooking Time: 10 minutes
3 1/2 cups vegetable broth
1 15 can black or pinto beans, drained and rinsed
1/4 cup chopped green onions
1 1/4 cups fresh salsa, mild or medium
1 tablespoon canned diced green chilies
1 cup corn kernels
2 cups fat-free tortilla chips, broken into bite-size pieces
1 cup avocado chunksPlace the broth, beans, salsa, corn, green onions and chilies in a medium saucepan. Cook over low heat for 10 minutes to blend flavors. Place 1/2 cup of chips and 1/4 cup of avocado in each of four bowls. Ladle the soup over the avocado and chips and serve at once.
The soup was amazing! However, I also suffer from bad acid reflux and let me just say, this soup caused quite a stir down there. I was actually in quite a bit of pain for about thirty minutes after dinner. The Alka-seltzer helped. Anyway, it seems like the foods that will help me long-term are going to cause some digestion problems short-term.
If this diet ends up working for me–I guess I may have to become vegan. And that’s a little creepy.
This past summer, my entire family suffered from a serious bout of strep throat. Actually, mine wasn’t that bad. I went to the doctor to get an antibiotic prescription at the first sign of a sore throat, so it never really developed into much. We left for a family vacation in Myrtle Beach the next day. Great time had by all.
When we returned, I began to notice strange pain in my right foot. I had purchased a new pair of sandals at the beach, so I thought that maybe I was just walking funny, adjusting to the new kicks. The pain persisted, however. A few days later, the pain had “traveled” to my right knee. Weird. But, the sandal explanation still seemed to make sense–plus we had spent some serious time in heavy surf at the beach. Maybe I’m just getting old.
A day before we left for our second vacation (yes, a second vacation), I began to have similar pain in my right wrist and index finger. This threw me for a loop. I had bought new sandals, not new gloves. Something was wrong. By the time we settled into our vacation home (in-law’s house) in Florida, my extremities were in severe pain, red and swollen. I had trouble sleeping the second night. So, we were off to the doctor with questions and an inability to sit or stand. Great time had by all.
I was poked, prodded and prescribed prednisone. It worked. But not until we were on our way home.
Upon returning, I went to see a rheumatologist because the pain came back as soon as the steroids wore off. The Dr. diagnosed me with “we-don’t-know-how-you-got-it-and-we-don’t-know-how-long-you’ll-have-it-but-I’m-sure-it’ll-go-away-in-a-few-weeks-or-months-arthritis.” Thanks, doc.
So, I’ve been taking prescription strength Aleve every day since August. Last week, I went to refill my prescription and was shocked to see the sticker price — $250!! For a month!! I kindly told the pharmacist, “No, thank you.” I thought that OTC Aleve would do the trick, but started hurting again almost immediately. The doctor has prescribed Ibuprofen, which is significantly cheaper — $5 a month. Can you believe the discrepancy?!
Sadly, Ibuprofen doesn’t seem to work as well and I’m supposed to be taking 2400mg a day. I’m gonna turn into a pill before long. This cannot be the answer. It’s just covering over the symptoms and not dealing with the source of the problem.
I have arthritis. Ugh.
